So Monday was the first day of classes, and since I supposedly came to Australia to study, I figured I'd update everyone on that front. I've had three of my four so far, and the outlook is good; this is shaping up to be a pretty manageable semester. I'll go by class...
- The Global Environment: in the first lecture, we learned about the planets in the solar system. Pretty fundamental stuff. The professor spent about five minutes explaining the logic behind craters and how you can tell which craters are older based on how they intersect. Again, pretty fundamental: if a small crater is inside a big crater, the small crater must be younger. Duh. And he showed us a moon rock. This should be a pretty easy class, but it will be informative.
- Control Theory: I was dreading this class initially, but I understood everything in the first lecture. Granted, it was very basic conceptual stuff, and didn't get into any rigorous mathematics, which the professor promised there will be. It was interesting, though, much to my surprise as I expected the subject to be pretty dry. As it turns out, control/feedback systems are a part of virtually everything in this world, from automobiles and robots to biology and drug delivery. It was a bit unnerving to hear that there was a 30% failure rate last year and that a 50% will be a passing grade on the exam. The tough exams I'm used to, but a 30% failure rate would be absolutely unheard of at Princeton. I'll probably need to study for this class...
- Australia and America: the professor asked the Australians to raise their hands. About five. Then the Americans. About seventy. This class is almost entirely American exchange students. The professor wasn't thrilling, but he did properly illustrate that America and Australia have very subtle yet important differences. Again, should be pretty easy. Also, it's a paper-based class. Cha-ching!
- Science and Society: First lecture tomorrow. We'll see how it goes.
Also, every lecture here is recorded and put online, so they are not actually mandatory--but practicals and tutorials are. That might trim my schedule a bit.... My classes are all over campus in seemingly random places, but nothing starts on time so it's easy to make it where I need to go. Anyway, the campus seems like it has exploded and there are people coming out of the woodwork. There's lots to do and see. It's pretty awesome.
Anyway, enough about school. Here are some other things I'm up to:
Melbourne Uni Mountaineering Club
At Princeton this would be called the outdoors club. The major difference is that this club actually does stuff--a lot of stuff. There are multiple trips each weekend. It seems like people sort of plan trips and then offer them to the group. The prices are pretty decent. I'm going to become a member and do some camping, bushwalking (a.k.a. hiking), kayaking, etc. You shouldn't be surprised that I'm into this club.
Australian Union of Jewish Students
It's the closest thing to Hillel they have here. I joined for $5, and that gets me lots of events (Purim party, etc.). Also, they have bagels every Tuesday, although they don't really know how to do bagels here (too soft).
Paintball
I bought a bunch of tickets for paintball at the student union today at a huge discount (the guy was a tough sell), and I thought I would propose that MUSEX does a trip. I got a huge response on the facebook group, so I'll be able to recover what I paid for the tickets and hopefully organize an awesome paintball adventure. (Try not to worry, Mom, I know you're not so keen on the whole paintball thing.)
Great Ocean Road
At some point in the next couple weeks I'm going to rent a campervan with some friends and take a weekend trip along the Great Ocean Road. The beaches are supposed to be incredible, and the scenery even better. Details to come.
The Great Barrier Reef Holiday
Ben Rabinowitz (longtime friend from SSDS/Gann) and I are planning our spring break trip to the Great Barrier Reef. Our plan is to fly to Cairnes (I already booked a flight), do a 4- or 5-day scuba diving expedition on the reef, and then road trip 1500 miles all the way back to Sydney in a campervan (a.k.a. RV). Then I'm going to stay with Ben's apartment in Sydney for the rest of the week to check out what the city has to offer. While I had thought Passover was going to be a big conflict with this break, Ben and I have already found a community Seder in Cairnes (a quick google search of "Passover Australia" was all it took). It's likely to be the most interesting Passover I've ever had.
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